October 11, 2012

Obama: Joe just needs to be Joe

President Obama evaluated his own debate performance -- he had a "bad night" -- and offered some tips for his vice president who debates Republican challenger Paul Ryan tonight -- in an ABC interview.

"I think Joe just needs to be Joe," Obama told ABC, when asked what advice he'd give his running mate. "Congressman Ryan is a smart and effective speaker, but his ideas are the wrong ones. Joe understands what it means to scrap and knows what it's like to see his dad lose a job and understands what it's like to get incredible opportunities because we live in this incredible country of ours. And when that heart and that story comes out, he's incredibly effective."

Of his own widely-panned performance: "Governor Romney had a good night. I had a bad night. It's not the first time," Obama said in his first televised interview since the Oct. 3 debate.

Democrats have despaired over Obama's showing, but he promised a turnaround: "This was one event. We've got four weeks to go. Nobody is going to be fighting harder than I am. What they need is to make sure they tune in on Tuesday next week."